REDUCING STRESS :

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You are made up of many systems. When you experience stress, these systems are activated.  If you do not relieve your stress, one or more of these systems will begin to break down. 

• The Brain system: Thoughts, Emotions, Communication, Memories, Motor/Senses.
• Cardio-Vascular System: Heart/Blood, Arteries/Veins, Lungs.
• Skeletal System: Bones and Joint.
• Muscle System: Muscles Tendons, Ligaments.
• Immune System: Fights disease, Antibodies, Protects Body.
•  Digestive System: Stomach, Intestines, Gall Bladder, Pancreas, Liver, etc.

Stress has been found to be related to high blood pressure, peptic ulcers, chronic headaches, TMJ, arthritis. colitis, muscle tension, sexual problems, circulatory problems, cardiac arrhythmia. and even cancer.

In what system or systems do you experience stress?

ON THE SPOT STRESS MANAGERS

Body Scan:

• Sit comfortably, close your eyes. 
• Begin to mentally scan the sensations in your body.
• Slowly move your attention from your head to your toes.

Deep Breathing:

• Sit comfortably
• Close your eyes-direct your attention to your breathing.
• Allow all thoughts and sensations to disappear as you concentrate fully on your breath, as it flows in and out. You can imagine any unwanted thoughts or feelings leaving your body with each each breath out, and relaxation and calm peace entering your body with each inhalation.
• Say to yourself things like: I am relaxing. I am feeling very comfortable and relaxed. My breath is calm and regular I am at peace, I feel renewed and refreshed.
• Feel yourself relax even deeper, to a safe, strong, and peaceful place.
• Prepare to open your eyes, bringing with you all this relaxation.

When You Meet a Stressor:

• Check your breathing. Is it shallow? Notice this, smile, and take breaths.
• Notice, are you holding tension in any other parts of your body?
• Take two more full and calming breaths.
• As you slowly exhale, let your body go totally limp imagine feelings of warmth, comfort and heaviness flowing from the top of your head down to your toes.

Centering: 

• Stop. Put down everything you're working on.
• Breath deeply, allowing yourself to get very comfortable right where you are.
•  Let your breathing be at peace, as you relax your whole body.
• Turn your attention inward and ask yourself: What an I feeling? What am I thinking? What is my body telling me? What do I want to do right now?

Visualizing A Special Place:

• Relax, breathe deeply and close your eyes.
• Imagine yourself in a beautiful, relaxing area at home, the beach, the mountains, etc.
• Imagine all the details, smells, sounds, etc., and let yourself get comfortable in this spot. You might want to use this time to mentally rehearse relaxing during a stressful work day or imagine yourself and your work environment just as you'd like it to be.
• Take another deep breath, stretch, and gently open your eyes.

Self-Massage:

• Massage your scalp as if you were washing your hair. This stimulates blood flow to your head allowing more oxygen to get to your brain and it relaxes muscle tension.
• Rub the back of your head at the base of the skull where you feel a large bump. This is where the neck muscles insert so, by rubbing this area, those muscles relax.
• Firmly massage the area around both temples on each side of your head.
• Take both of your hands and place them on either side of your neck. Run them up and down with firm pressure.
• Run your hands down your neck to both of your shoulders  and squeeze the muscles. Repeat this a few times.
• Use your fingertips in circular motions to get deep into the muscles along your shoulders.
• Give yourself a big hug and squeeze the muscles at the top of your shoulders.
• Foot massage: Rest the ankle of one leg on top of your thigh of the other leg. Grasp your foot with both hands and massage it as if you were playing with putty. The foot contains reflex points from all parts of the body. By stimulating your foot, circulation is improved and tension is relieved throughout your whole body.

H.A.L.T.  Stress

The next time you feel tension or stress, halt it by asking yourself these four questions and then taking  action.

• Am I Hungry? Get something nutritious to eat.
• Am I Angry? let someone know how you feel.
• Am I Lonely? Make some social contacts.
• Am I Tired? Get enough sleep to feel refreshed.

BREATHING FOR RELAXATION: 

Purpose- Deep breathing brings more oxygen into the blood stream. It increases energy level and decreases tensions.

Getting Ready:

• First, notice how you breathe now. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach. Breathe as you normally do. Notice the movement of your hands Which hand has the most movement? With Deep Breathing, the goal is to have the hand on your stomach move obviously, while the hand on your chest barely moves.
• Now, get into a comfortable position. You may want to close your eyes so you can focus better on the mid-section of your body.

PRACTICING THE SKILL :

Place both hands on the lower part of your stomach and breathe in so that the incoming air expands that area and gently pushes against your hands. Your muscles should be relaxed. Then, gently push with your hands as you exhale slowly. allow a moment of letting go of your diaphragm muscle before you start breathing again. If using am image in your mind helps, picture a balloon on your stomach which inflates when you inhale and deflates when you exhale. Practice this several times. Lastly, imagine the tension and stress leaving your body as you exhale while mentally saying to yourself, " I and becoming more relaxed and calm."

Here are some important tips for mastering this skill:

• Start practicing with only 3 to 5 deep breaths, slowly increase your practice time to 5 minutes or longer.
• In the beginning, you might find it helpful to practice deep breathing while lying down- and to concentrate on keeping your chest and shoulders relaxed.
• As you progress, practice deep breathing in a variety of settings. 
• It is better to practice WHEN YOU ARE NOT STRESSED.
• Be patient and gentle with yourself.

NUTRITION & STRESS

Stress can affect your eating habits ... which  in turn can effect your nutritional intake, resulting in inadequate vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to maintain good health.

When under stress, many people - intentionally or unintentionally - react by :

• Overeating
• Skipping meals
• Resorting to "junk" and "empty-calorie" foods.
• Drinking too much caffeine
• Smoking more cigarettes.
• Drinking more alcohol
• Eating quickly, "on the run"

Your body temporarily lacks the vitamins and other nutrients essential to good health. To add to the problem, this occurs at a time when your stressed body needs to call on additional, not depleted, resources.

• Eat only when you are hungry, not when you are bored, tired, anxious or angry.
• Eat slowly and chew well, not while you are standing, on the run or in the car.
• Don't skip meals.
• Take a moment before eating to relax and breathe deeply.
• Enjoy a variety of foods. Include vegetables and fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans and dairy products in your diet.
• Relax a while after eating, then do some light exercise like walking to help digest and circulate the nutrients .
• These foods can contribute to feelings of stress. Limit them in your diet :
• SUGAR-especially refined sugar, corn syrup, soft drinks, cookies, cakes, pies and chocolate.
• CAFFEINE- including coffee, black tea, chocolate and some soft drinks.
• SODIUM- high in processed foods. chips, popcorn, cheese and cured meats.
• FAT- high in meat, deep fried foods, or "fast" foods, and ice cream.
• ALCOHOL- beer, wine, mixed drinks.

Take vitamins and mineral supplements. Vitamin C and B vitamins are thought to be especially helpful during times of stress.

Read food labels. Beside the common additions of salt and sugar to many packaged foods, there are natural and artificial flavorings, stabilizers, and preservatives. Become aware of what you are putting into your body. Eating is one way we bring pleasure and joy into our lives. It is a way that we nurture ourselves. Eating wisely can help us stay healthy and support us during times of stress!

EXERCISE CAN HELP REDUCE STRESS BY:

• Decreasing depression
• Increasing your stamina
• Helping your muscles to relax
• Facilitating more restful sleep
• Providing a focus foe us that we are doing something for ourselves.

EXERCISE CAN HELP REDUCE STRESS IF:

• You are willing to start doing it for at least 20 minutes. Ideally your goal might be to exercise 20-30minutes every other day. 
• You stretch, warm-up and cool down as part of your exercise program.
• The exercise is not strenuous, painful to the point where it actually produces stress.

REMEMBER:

• Walking, swimming and bicycling are good stress relievers.
• Drink plenty of liquids when you exercise.
• Stop when you're really tired.

Exercise alone is rarely enough for complete stress reduction.

FIVE SRESS MANAGEMENT TIPS:

1. WORK IT OUT! Ideally, have a minimum 20 minutes exercise workout every other day, Practice deep breathing and progressive relaxation.
2. TALK IT OUT! Share your stress-connected thoughts and feelings with persons you trust and respect.
3. PLAN IT OUT! Plan time for stress relieving activities: a lunch time walk, weekend fun, organizing and prioritizing your work life/your personal life. Rehearse and inoculate against known stress-producing situations. Plan for drinking less caffeinated beverages.
4. THINK IT OUT! Recognize what you can control in your life and what you can't. Explore letting go of what you can't.
5. ACT IT OUT! When you first become aware of physical tension, act out your personal stress reduction plan -- automatically start your chosen stress reducing physical activity and self-talk.

UNHELPFUL THINKING STYLES:

These styles of thinking are related to each other. While the categories are a helpful way of showing the patterns , they often overlap. Also, different types of thoughts often follow each other when we bombard ourselves with negative thoughts until we're overwhelmed. Be patient with yourself, and allow yourself to become familiar with your unique way of negative thinking. When you're aware, you can change.

ALL OR NOTHING THINKING  (also called Black and White or Polarized Thinking) There is nothing " in between" in this type of thinking. People or situations are evaluated in extremes.  " If I can't even walk a block, then I can't exercise." " If my pain can't be cured, then there's no point in trying." " If I don't get all my work done, I can't relax." The problem with this type of thinking is that it's difficult to appreciate small changes, even though several small changes can make a big difference in the quality of life.

OVERGENERALIZATION-  often follows all or nothing thinking. A single event is taken as evidence of an overall pattern. " My doctor spent five minutes with me today- everybody has given up on helping me." " My family doesn't understand my pain--nobody does." Words like all, every, none, always, everybody, nobody are used frequently. This thinking leads to focusing on perceptions that often are inaccurate.

PERSONALIZATION- This is taking things to heart that may or may not have anything to do with us. " My family doesn't help me - they obviously have no respect for me." This type of thinking can also take the form of taking responsibility for things that are not under are control. "If I don't prepare the Thanksgiving meal, it will ruin everyone's holiday."

CATASTROPHIZING-  The  worse case scenario is imagined, and the assumption is that it will happen. " I'm never going to be any better." "There's no cure for this, so it's downhill from here." "What if i have to live on the street?" The problem with this thinking is that it interferes with the motivation to follow through on activities to get better.

EMOTIONAL REASONING- This is assuming that everything we feel must be the truth. " It scares me when i move and it hurts--I'm just damaging myself more." " I feel guilty about not being able to do everything around the house--it's my fault things aren't done." Feeling are feelings, but the facts may or may not support them.

SHOULD STATEMENTS- This is trying to mold reality to our own vision, rather than accepting actual reality. Words like should, must, have to, or ought to are often used. " I have to get the house clean." " I should be able to do more." This leads to guilt and shame rather than realistic thinking and action.

DON'T SHOULD YOURSELF!